Meta's Oakley Smart Glasses Could Spell the End for GoPros

Gizmodo

18-06-2025

New partnerships with Oakley and Prada are expanding the horizons of Meta's smart glasses beyond Ray-Bans.
Smart glasses are complicated. They have to be thin but also big enough to fit all of the important tech. They ought to be more than just glorified Bluetooth audio devices, too, since we already have those; they definitely have to fit a camera that doesn't suck and a voice assistant that can get the job done. On top of all of the technical constraints, there's also one burden that makes them different than other wearables—they absolutely, positively, cannot look dorky on your face. Because of that constraint, Meta, arguably the biggest player in the smart glasses space right now, has previously partnered with EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Bans, to help design the glasses part of its smart glasses, and now, it's tapping even more eyewear brands to help bring its glasses to new frontiers.
First, there's Oakley, which, in case you've never been snowboarding or on a boat, is a sporty sunglasses brand that makes wraparound shades that won't look out of place at a NASCAR race. In one way, it's a strange departure, but could also be a solid play for a different kind of audience. While Ray-Bans are pretty all-purpose and could appeal to anyone with enough money to justify buying them, Oakley might make more sense for someone interested in sports like snowboarding or surfing. A new report seems to confirm that intention, too. According to documents reviewed by CNBC, Meta's Oakley glasses will be 'aimed at athletes' and are inspired by Meta Ray-Ban owners who've used their smart glasses for action sports-oriented ends. CNBC says that Meta's Oakley glasses will also be more weather-resistant, too, which will in turn come with a premium. Oakley versions of Meta's glasses may cost $360 as opposed to the $300 starting price of the Ray-Ban versions.
The next evolution is coming on June 20.@Meta pic.twitter.com/Lb2Rz96gDL
— Oakley (@oakley) June 16, 2025
Having used Meta's Ray-Bans extensively, I've often thought that they would be perfect for skaters, snowboarders, skiers, or bikers who want to record POV video without going through the trouble of rigging up a GoPro or Insta360 camera. While CNBC's report gives us the intended use case of Meta's Oakley smart glasses, it doesn't give any insight into whether there will be hardware tweaks outside of improved weather resistance. Personally, if these are indeed meant to be used in an action sports setting, I'd love to see camera improvements, including a bump from 30 frames per second to 60 fps and maybe even some advanced motion smoothing so your boarding vids don't look shaky. Heck, maybe even toss in another camera for a wider field of view or different types of footage.
Meta's second collab may be less fruitful from the actual application of smart glasses side of things, but it signifies a shift in direction all the same. According to the same CNBC report, Meta will also partner with Prada to release a more high-end pair of smart glasses. The partnership could be a perfect fit for Prada's specific style of glasses since the arms are already thick, allowing plenty of room for the technical components required to make smart glasses work in the first place. A Prada partnership may not yield as many exciting improvements, but it might help Meta expand its audience to women or people who want a pair of smart glasses that are more high-fashion. We'll have more answers soon enough. Meta plans to unveil its new partnerships on Friday, so stay tuned for updates from us on the future of wraparound smart sunglasses.